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The Prodigy related articles from magazines.

NY Rock

Interview with Keith
& Liam

November 1997

Prodigy is certainly one of the most colorful bands around, not only their music but Keith Flint's outrageous and ever-changing hair (which has gone from canary yellow over frog green to fire-engine red and back). Athough Keith gets most of the attention, it's the man in back, Liam Howlett, who is the creative force behind the band. Other members include Maxim (aka Keeti Palmer), who is the"Master of Ceremony" and Leeroy Thornhill who, along with Keith, dances and provides the group's visual attraction. Prodigy is evolving at warp speed and the intense pace seems to be the key to the band's success. Their new album The Fat of the Land has topped the charts in over 40 countries worldwide. Not bad for a group that was once called a one hit wonder...

NY
Rock:

Liam,
is it true that you were trained as a classical
pianist although you can't read notes on a musical
scale?

Liam:

I
went through eight years of classical piano lessons
without being able to read notes.
I only have to hear a melody to be able to play
it. It used to freak my piano teacher out when
he finally noticed that notes don't make any sense
to me and that I played by ear.

NY
Rock:

In
the U.S., you're signed on Madonna's Maverick
label, but there were some rumors that you were
extremely difficult when it came to doing promotional
tours.

Keith:

They
wanted us to do a rather huge press and promotion
tour. We've cut it down to a minimum but it was
still a lot. We're not going anywhere just to
do promotion. If we're going somewhere, we're
going on tour and we're going to play. That's
the whole thing about being in a band like Prodigy:
To go out and play.

NY
Rock:

Prodigy
has undergone quite a few changes since you started
as a dance act.

Liam:

I
simply recognized that the band must go on in
the development. I needed to go back to the music,
to the roots and move forward with the music itself.
The British dance scene has become anemic, washed
out and simply beat orientated. I think our fans
grew with us and they respect that we approach
new avenues and play around with different ideas.
Our sound has become harder, more guitar orientated.
Even my old friends from the dance scene are listening
to a harder sound. I think it's our energy and
our strive forward that attracts our fans.

Keith:

We
didn't want to repeat ourselves; we wanted to
sound different and our fans want us to sound
different. We're not like Elton John or Simply
Red where you know what you'll get. We're trying
to do different stuff and that's what Prodigy
stands for. We're always moving forward, always
moving into a new direction. We're doing the unexpected
but that's what our music is all about.

NY
Rock:

The
new song "Diesel Power" is one of your most drastic
changes. Its dark industrial Rap was never typical
of Prodigy.

Keith:

There
is no such thing as a typical Prodigy song. The
only thing typical about Prodigy is that it kicks,
it rocks. There are a couple of elements like
a rough sound and a hard rhythm that will always
be there.

NY
Rock:

Liam,
you've produced acts like Jesus Jones, Front 242
and Art of Noise, but their styles are very different
from what you do with Prodigy.

Liam:

Personally
I think that working with a lot of different artists
and styles has helped me to define my own style.
I have always thrived to integrate new influences
but at the same time I wanted to keep my own musical
identity. If you look at Prodigy, we really have
our own identity.

NY
Rock:

You're
sometimes labeled as post-punks, but you always
stress that your music is strictly non-political.
Do you see yourself as post-punks?

Liam:

I'm
not sure, in my book punk is a life-style, a way
of thinking. Our outlook is: Here we are, love
us or hate us. If that's punk then we're punks.
We just do what we do. People should look behind
the surface. We stay at home quite a lot and watch
other musicians on TV, try to learn from them
and avoid the mistakes they're making. You know
the way they present people on TV usually has
nothing to do with their musical identity.

Keith:

TV
is for us the medium where our videos get played
and we worked hard on our videos but we're not
open for talk-shows and stuff like that. Our aim
was never to be one of the biggest bands. OK more
people might say, "Oh Prodigy are cool," but I
doubt that they'd really know Prodigy. We're not
easy listening or entertainment for the breaks.